Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

Ora et labora

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

From John 8
Jesus said to the Pharisees, "I do nothing on my own but I say only what the Father taught me. The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone."

On this first partial day of spring I should be outside, but library stacks invite me in. I think of those ancient libraries in Alexandria and Milan, where Augustine searched the shelves. Anselm and Aquinas scoured the libraries in Paris. Luther and Ignatius devoured books in German, Spanish and Latin.

Charles Wesley, Cardinal Newman, Jonathan Edwards, Bernard Lonergan, Karl Barth, Teilhard de Chardin, Fleming Rutledge, N.T. Wright ... so many minds sorting through words about God. And we all join them in libraries and coffee shops, in Sunday school, and most of all late at night in our wanna-be-quiet minds. We ask the question Pilate asked. "What is truth?"

In high school I played chess with Sandy Perry in study hall precisely because that was against the rules. We were called out and reprimanded, and in my self-righteousness that felt good. I was certain we were closer to the truth than Principal Lovelace (such an unfortunate name, when you tweak the spelling).

We were wrong-er than we were right. It's easier to see that now.

In seminary Professor Castelein drew a big tent on the blackboard during a theology class. With his Belgian accent he described the pole in the center. That is "absolute truth." (Although perhaps he did not use the word "absolute." I am not absolutely sure.)

Those folks nearest the pole lived in and believed the most truth. But as the tent-dwellers moved away from the center toward the edges, there was always the possibility of one day finding oneself outside the tent.

I wish it were so simple. Truth and lies are not that easily defined. Most of what rings up as truth is tinged and threaded through with untruth. And the truth of my own personal experience and perceptions, with my conclusions based on both, is not yours. So then, what makes mine more true than yours?

Jesus understood right and wrong better than anyone. He came to "fulfill the Law." But finally Jesus said, "I AM the way, I am the truth, and I am the life." Truth meant more now than finding right rules to follow; now it was about surrender.

If Jesus is our tent's center stake, I want to stay close to him. I wnt to read more psalms alongside Jesus, and look for ways to give myself for others. Do the things that Jesus did. Pray and work. Work and pray.

O Lord, hear my prayer and let my cry come to you. Do not hide your face from me. Listen to me in the day of my distress. O Lord, hear my prayer. (Psalm 102)

Devotions Archive

Ora et labora

Tuesday, March 20, 2018